March 24, 2007
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Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - In a game that saw both teams notch just five hits, Houston's starter Wes Musick controlled the tempo, and the UCF lineup, Saturday in a 3-0 Cougar victory at Jay Bergman Field. The freshman's outing helped Houston improve to 2-0 in Conference USA play (13-12 overall), while the Knights dropped to 0-2 (14-12 overall) in what was the first time this season that they were victims of a shutout.
Musick (4-3) went 8.0 innings to get the win, striking out 10 UCF batters and walking only one. It was the first time since the 2005 season that an opposing pitcher posted at least 10 strikeouts against the Knights (Georgia State's Romas Hicks - 10, May 13, 2005).
Eric Kallstrom extended his hitting streak to seven games with an infield single in the second. Shane Brown paced the Knights' offense by going 2-for-4 out of the No. 2 hole. On the mound, Derek Abriola pitched 5.2 innings of relief, giving up just one run on two hits. It was the senior's longest outing in a UCF uniform.
Each team went scoreless in the first, however Houston struck in the second off starter Mitch Houck (1-5). Josh Stirneman got things going with a single and was immediately sacrificed over to second. Following a balk and a free pass, Bryan Pounds drove in Stirneman on a base hit to left. Another walk then loaded the bases with one out, but Kallstrom made a great play at short, going into shallow left to catch a soft pop-up off the bat of Ryan Lormand. Kallstrom quickly turned and fired to second to get Pounds halfway to third base for the inning-ending double play.
In the next frame, Houck surrendered a single and a walk before leaving the game with an injury. Abriola came on and gave up a wild pitch to push the runners into scoring position. A ground out by Stirneman allowed Jimmy Cesario to touch home and give the Cougars a 2-0 advantage. Abriola then issued two walk to load the bases with two outs only to get Pounds swinging on a 2-2 pitch to get out of the jam.
Lormand took things into his own hands in the fourth, earning a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. The second baseman, on a 1-1 pitch, decided to break for home and even though Abriola's pitch beat the runner, Lormand slid in safely when the ball came out of Brandon Romans' glove.
Now with a 3-0 lead, Musick was busy shutting the UCF offense down, retiring seven straight at one point before giving up a leadoff single to Shane Brown in the sixth. Moments later, a wild pitch and a fielding error gave the Black and Gold runners at the corners with one down. That would turn out to be the Knights' best opportunity to get on the board, but Musick struck out Chris Duffy and induced Ryan Richardson to line out to center, keeping it 3-0.
While Musick was cruising, so was Abriola. The UCF reliever sat down 12-consecutive Cougars until letting Stirneman single in the eighth. It was the first base hit Houston recorded since the third inning. Abriola's dominance was not enough, though, as the Cougars' three early runs held up.
Sunday marks the series finale between UCF and Houston, as first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jay Bergman Field. The Knights' 17-game home stand comes to a close Monday when it hosts Harvard at 6:30 p.m. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.
Game Notes
WP: Wes Musick (4-3), 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
LP: Mitch Houck (1-5), 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 0 K
SV: Chris Wright (2), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
- The last time UCF began 0-2 in conference play was in 1996. That year, the Knights lost all three games to Atlantic Sun rival Stetson before defeating Florida Atlantic in game one the next weekend.
- Through the first three innings, UCF pitchers had given up six walks. They finished the night with seven walks.
- Saturday marked Derek Abriola's team-leading 12th appearance of the season, all out of the bullpen. The senior has now made 53 relief appearances in his career. Two more will tie him with Dominic Petracca for sixth place in UCF history.
- Kiko Vazquez recorded his team-best eighth double in the third inning.
- UCF failed to swipe a base against Houston Saturday, which ending a string of 16-straight games in which it notched a stolen base.